Kentucky Speedway's spot on the 2010 NASCAR slate? Closing in on No-way, Bruton Smith says

  
Yes, the sun was out at times Monday at Lowe's Motor Speedway....but just don't look over your shoulder (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)

  

   By Mike Mulhern
   mikemulhern.net

   CONCORD, N.C.
   More Monday musings, during another long rain delay at Lowe's Motor Speedway.
   At the 3 p.m. break, for the National Moment of Remberance, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was sitting a distant 41st in the field, three laps down, well before the halfway mark of NASCAR's longest race.
   Dale Jr.'s long dry spell hasn't been good for the sport, track owner Bruton Smith points out.
   "It certainly affects the sale of souvenirs, and we are in that business," Smith said. "That means Dale Jr. is losing fans rapidly, and I don't like that, because he's great for the sport.
   "I've talked with Rick (Hendrick, Earnhardt's car owner) about that. And I think you'll see an improvement there.  Dale Jr. is tired of all the bad press he's been getting. So I expect him to start winning some races."
   At the other end of the Hendrick spectrum, Jimmie Johnson was running third at the break, Jeff Gordon was running eighth, and Mark Martin was running 16th.

   Meanwhile time is running out on Bruton Smith's bid to put Kentucky Speedway on the Sprint Cup tour calendar in 2010, a campaign he kicked off a year ago when he bought the Cincinnati-area track, has run into a road block. NASCAR CEO Brian France hasn't said no quite yet, but Smith concedes the window is closing.
   Two of the former track owners have refused to drop their lawsuit against NASCAR, and NASCAR has told Smith it won't be discussing any Cup date at Kentucky until that lawsuit is withdrawn.
   "I have tried everything," Smith said. "I have tried to shame them, because they have a moral responsibility. The state of Kentucky has spent $96 million, and they deserve the event.
   "We've drawn this out too long.
   "I'm the victim in this whole thing. But that's okay; I've been a victim before."
   Smith has said he plans to move a Cup date from one of his current tracks to Kentucky, when the suit is dropped. But he continues to decline to specify which track: "I can't tell you that, because that would hurt that particular speedway. So I just can't say."
  
   Carl Long's appeal of that record $200,000 fine, 200-point penalty and 12-week suspension for an engine violation during last weekend's All-star preliminary will be Tuesday June 2. NASCAR's limits on engine size is 358; Long's engine was 358.17.
   Long, a NASCAR Cup crewman who runs occasional Cup races, is a spotter for a Cup team and a suspension could cost him that job.
   
   Goodyear heads back to Indianapolis Motor Speedway next week for yet another tire test for the July Brickyard 400, with Tony Stewart, Greg Biffle, Juan Pablo Montoya, Kasey Kahne, Bill Elliott, David Stremme, Robby Gordon and one Richard Childress driver.
    That test is to validate the specific tire combination, which will then be tested again in a 12-man test June 15th.

    NASCAR teams plan a major Sonoma test at Virginia International Raceway, near Danville, this Wednesday, to check out brake and gearing combinations for the June 21st stop at Infineon Raceway.   
    
    Brian Vickers' contract with Team Red Bull is up for renewal this season, and Vickers could sign a new contract within the next two weeks.